WiMax Wireless Standard Gets Push in Chengdu,
Dalian
Intel has agreed to help launch the WiMax (802.16) wireless
standard in the two Chinese cities of Dalian and Chengdu.
The Intel move is seen as a push to put the disagreement
with China's Ministry of Information Industry over China's
own locally-developed wireless encryption standard behind
it.
Chendgu is the second largest city in Sichuan in western
China, with a population of 10 million. Dalian is in northeast
China near Korea, and has become a major investment destination
for Japanese multinationals. Recently, it has become a
popular offshore software development center.
WiMax offers wireless broadband speeds at ranges up to
30 miles, in contrast with the ranges of up to 500 feet
of the current 802.11 standards. Some of the standards
for WiMax have not yet been set yet, and will not be until
later this year. It has not yet been launched in the US,
Europe or Japan, and some proponents see it as the technology
successor to 3G mobile phone technology, which has not
yet been launched in China. WiMax was first developed
as a communications standards for the US military, but
has since been commercialized.
In late 2003, the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry
published a regulation requiring Chinese companies to
adopt a new wireless encryption standard which was incompatible
with the 802.11 standards prevalent
outside China. After senior level protests from Intel
and senior level US government officials, the Chinese
side, led by Vice Premier Wu Yi, did
a climb-down by announcing that it would not strictly
enforce the new standard.
China's Ministry of Information Industry has been a driving
force in the "tech for market" policy. This
policy basically pushes for the latest technologies to
be launched in China with Chinese partners, so that Chinese
companies can have access to the latest technology. In
return, multinationals are allowed to profit from the
sales of their products in China.
At times, this policy has led to friction and become
politicized as politicians voice fears that multinationals
are forced to give up their intellectual property in return
for access to the Chinese market. With China's strong
growth in all markets, this has largely abated.
Unlike US and European telecoms which seek to recoup
their investments in telecom hardware equipment, the Chinese
government has actively pushed the newest standards. In
some cases, it tests new technologies in certain cities
first to work out the bugs before deciding to go nationwide.
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